


men like me come around

by sandyk



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Mourning, ambiguous grief, ambivalent grief, mj's brothers, mj's dad passes away offscreen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26214541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandyk/pseuds/sandyk
Summary: Peter is there for MJ when her father passes away, even if she's not sure how she feels about it.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fifteen





	men like me come around

**Author's Note:**

> For the trope bingo spot death fic. Title from beyonce's daddy lessons. Thank you a!!!!

Peter went with MJ to the funeral. He chose the less expensive of the two suits Tony had forced on him because that seemed the better choice. May had smoothed the lapels meaninglessly and drove him to the church. She said, "I'll sit in the back, let MJ know if she needs a ride or something."

Peter found MJ in a back room. Both her brothers were there and other family. She ignored him for a second and then she was hugging him. She was wearing a grey sweater and a long black skirt. He rubbed her back. She was wearing her Doc Martens and she hadn't bothered to polish or clean them. There was a fine line of mud along the sole. She said, "Thanks for coming."

"Of course," he said. "It's your dad." MJ didn't relax. Peter said, "It's you, anytime you need me, I'm here." 

MJ hadn't let go so Peter kept holding her. Someone from the church or the funeral home came in and said non-family should go in now. Peter patted MJ's back and shuffled off. MJ's oldest brother was engaged, so his fiance Joseph stayed. Peter and Shari went in and Shari guided Peter to the second row. Shari said, "We've both been dating them longer than Joseph's been around."

"I don't think MJ wants to be engaged right now," Peter said. 

Shari grinned at him and then stopped smiling. "I'm being silly."

"It's okay," Peter said. 

Then the family came in. MJ looked blank. He patted her shoulder. She sighed quietly.

It was a really long service, longer than when Ben died. But apparently MJ's dad had been going to this church for a while and everyone was very sad. Lots of people who went to the church and MJ's dad's other family were super sad. MJ and her brothers were something that might be sad. 

May had said Peter should just be supportive with no judgment. "Grief is nasty and weird, you know that. So you just be a good friend and boyfriend."

Peter idly noticed he and May were one of the very very few white people there. 

When it was all done, MJ turned her head and looked at him with wet eyes. He said, "Where to next? May's in the back, we can drive you."

MJ crossed her arms over the back of the pew and leaned her head on her hands. "You're sweet. There's no graveside service, but we have to go to the after party."

"I can't wait," Peter said. 

It was not much of a party. The sad people were very very sad and MJ just seemed numb. Or ambivalent. Her dad had left all three of the kids back when MJ was ten. It wasn't amicable at all, MJ's mom had chosen not to attend the funeral. 

Peter watched MJ move through the house, stopping to talk very very briefly with what he guessed were older relatives. Peter looked around the walls, MJ's dad's house didn't have much trace of his three kids. He only saw one picture of them, even if it was on the mantle in the living room. It was an old picture, too. 

Shari came and sat down next to him. She said quietly, "Do you get along with your dad?"

"He's dead, but I did when he was alive. My uncle and my aunt raised me after that, they're both great. My uncle died, too," Peter said. "Sorry."

Shari said, "Sorry. My dad's great, too. I don't get why you'd stop talking to your own kids. Go to church and pretend to be a good person."

Peter nodded. "People do a lot of awful things and tell you it's about family."

MJ looked like she was about to break in half so Peter got up and went up to her. "Hey, MJ, hey, do you want some food or something to drink?"

"Five beers," MJ said, blankly. 

"I think your brothers would find a way to kill me if I did that," Peter said. "I'll get you something else. Or come with me."

"Fine," MJ said. She gripped his hand and pulled him along behind her. She pulled him outside. It was getting pretty cold so he pulled off his jacket and put it around MJ's shoulders. 

"Do you want to go?" Peter stood across from her and reached for her hands. 

She said, "No, I don't. I just can't stand being around all those people. They're upset that he's gone. I'm just sad in abstract. Like, future me will have a whole list of her feelings, but I'm not her yet. Present me just doesn't really care that much? I think."

"That's fine, too," Peter said. 

"Thanks," she said. 

"Sorry," Peter said. 

She hugged his jacket closer. She said, "It feels weird. Did you ever hear that stupid as fuck Tolstoy quote about happy families are all alike and unhappy families are all different? That's crap, I think. You have a happy family, but it's different from, like, I don't know." She glanced around. 

"Your mom loves you very much," Peter said. 

MJ rolled her eyes. "I better get back inside, I think Joseph's just waiting for an excuse to blow up at Dad's new wife." 

Peter didn't know what to say to that, so he just followed MJ back inside. It was another hour before MJ and her brothers were ready to leave. MJ's stepmother kept fiddling with her tiny hoop earrings, Peter was worried she'd pull them out.

MJ asked May to let her stay at the Parkers. "Sorry, I can't take my mom tonight."

May said, "You tell her and she says it's okay, of course you can, sweetie."

Peter remembered to hang up his gift from Tony nice and tailored suit and not just throw the blazer and pants on the floor. He changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt in the bathroom. He'd never officially slept over with MJ before, not really. There'd been a few times in the past two months when he'd gone from patrol to MJ's but he always woke up somewhere around four a.m. and got home before they got caught.

May had made up the sofa bed in the living room. She said, "You can both sleep out here." She hugged MJ and went into her room. 

MJ was wearing a pair of Peter's Knicks shorts and another of his t-shirts. She looked really hot. Peter looked away. MJ said, "Perfect time to try anal, don't you think?"

He could tell she was nearly laughing at his face. He coughed and then said, "What would you do if I took you up on that?"

"Be really surprised that you'd try to make a move when I'm so vulnerable," MJ said. She tugged him into the bed. 

She held his hand and kept his arm around her. He was pretty sure she didn't fall asleep for a while. 

When Peter woke up, she was out of the bed. He could hear her in the bathroom but it felt rude to listen just because he could. He reached for his phone. He texted Mr. Stark, the one person he knew he could ask about shitty dad issues. "Don't let MJ drink and tell her cocaine is no good for mourning."

"Thanks for the great advice," Peter texted back.

Then Mr. Stark offered MJ his personal phone number. It made Peter tear up a little. 

He passed it on to MJ when she came out of the bathroom, dressed in her funeral clothes again. She said, "Did you make me sound pathetic?"

"Not in the slightest," Peter said. "I don't think I would even know how to do that."

She smiled at him. "It's okay, you're already getting in my pants, don't lay it on too thick."

"That wasn't, that wasn't laying it on too thick or trying to get in your pants," Peter said. 

"Because you don't want to get in my pants?" She smiled. 

"You know that's not true," Peter said. 

"Enough of that," May said. She made them breakfast and then drove MJ home. 

When May got back, they ate again. Peter said, "That was a really long service." 

"I know," May said. "But you're never in church so you really can't judge."

"I can tell if something is long," Peter said. "Don't make mine that long."

"Oh, no, no, you're sixteen, we aren't talking about your funeral," May said. She clenched her jaw and pushed her glasses up on her nose. 

Peter said, "That seems like, even if I wasn't Spider-man, we can't be so optimistic in this family." For a happy family, he hadn't said to MJ, Peter had been to a lot of funerals. "Make Tony pay for it, don't go into debt for that."

"Don't worry about that," May said. She reached across the table and held his wrist. "We're not talking about this."

He smiled at her until she didn't look so serious. 

Peter waited until the afternoon to go over to MJ's. Ned and Cindy and Betty and some other kids from Decathlon were all coming over with food, drink, books. Peter got her a chai latte from the workers collective tea and coffee place she loved in Brooklyn. So he was late, of course, had to cover a lot of ground. When he showed up, everyone was already there, crowded in the small living room. Plus, Shari and Joseph were over and friends of theirs, too. It was like the after party of the funeral, but better people, in Peter's opinion. 

As Peter sat down, MJ said, "We're sort of not talking about why everyone's being nice to me, but don't censor yourself. We can use the word Dad and death."

Peter smushed down between MJ and Cindy. "Boyfriend privilege," he said, putting his arm around MJ. 

"Plus, he brought me this lukewarm chai," MJ said, and then sipped it. 

Peter stayed all afternoon until it was just him and MJ and the brothers and their significant others. MJ's mom wasn't there at all and Peter had decided to not say anything. Or ask about it. She would say something if she wanted him to poke at that. 

MJ said, "Then they all stop coming, right? That's what everyone says. Everyone moves on except for you because it happened to you."

Peter was more being cuddled by MJ than doing the cuddling. He was willing to make that sacrifice. Peter said, "It's not everyone. Not at all. May's friend from college, she came over every week, without fail. She still comes to visit."

"Okay," MJ said. "I appreciate hearing that."

"Also, May told me grief is weird and nasty, so you can't judge. People and yourself. Not everyone is sad in the same way. Or not sad," Peter said. He rubbed her forearm.

"Thanks for your approval," MJ said. "And lack of judgment." She was playing with his hair. It felt really nice. "I'd probably be better off talking to May than Tony."

"Oh my God, totally," Peter said. "I'm always better off talking to May."

"I still want to call Tony at, like, three a.m. crying just to see what he says." Her hand was still in his hair. 

Peter said, "He's actually really good at surprise out of nowhere calls. He shines at three a.m. calls."

"But May does, too," MJ said. 

"Yeah, of course," Peter said. He shifted so he was resting in her lap. "I'm saying, if you want to catch Tony when he's not ready, make an appointment for a few days in advance and keep telling him it's not that important."

MJ shuddered. "Well, that sounds like torture to me." 

Peter laughed a little. "He was such a wreck. I just wanted to get academic credit for my internship and I wanted to be professional about it. He was so freaked out, I think he would have signed over most of Stark Industries to me."

MJ laughed. "God, that's a great story. Thank you."


End file.
